Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Kristy says Happy Thanksgiving!

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This is a test to see if Kristy can blog from her phone. -Rory

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Monday, October 6, 2008

Running Ryans





Last Saturday we participated in the Autism Speaks Walk Now for Autism. Thank you to everyone who sponsored us! Ryan and every other child out there affected by autism are thankful. Rory agreed to walk even though we had to set foot on the UW campus :)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Vacation

Yes, I am finally writing a new entry! We have been very busy this summer, and I don't necessarily mean with activities. Just day to day living around here is busy. I am just trying to find a balance between Ryan's floortime, time for the other kids, time for the baby, and time to clean and cook. Its just not easy and it won't be but its certainly worth it. I'm sorry to say my getting up extremely early isn't working! We have been sick for a while and I'm trying to get everyone lots and lots of sleep so we have been sleeping in. A couple weeks ago a mean virus attacked us and I ended up with a sinus infection, Kaylie with croup, Bella with pneumonia, and everyone else with a bad cold. Weird for summer, its usually our break. The end of last week Kaylie got chicken pox and had it while we were on vacation to Long Beach. She had two doses of the vaccine so her case was pretty mild.
We had a fun time on the beach, shopping, and at the pool at Long Beach this year.Rory and I and all our kids,my niece, my mom, my brother and sister in law, and their two kids were all there. However we had a lot drama too. My poor sister in law ended up in the emergency room after a bad fall from a horse. It was wonderful seeing everyone and meeting my nephew, Kian, for the first time.
Our next big upcoming event is Jessi's Bday party which she has been planning since last winter. Vacation Bible school is coming up too. I can't believe how fast summer is flying by.
We decided to participate in an autism research project at the University of WA (I know, I know the Huskey school) and I have been taking Bella for assessments and things. It has been a lot of fun actually, driving in to Seattle. The older kids had fun playing games with a babysitter while Bella and I were participating. The study is for younger siblings of children with autism because of their higher risk of developing it themselves. Anyway Bella got tested by watching movies, playing with me and the researchers and things like that. She did very well and scored above average over all so I thank God for that. It was a fun experience and everyone is really very nice there (even though they are Huskies!) Bella will go back at 8 mos and 12 mos. Its great for me to get all the free assessments all the way up to 2 yrs old.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Happy Birthday Jon and Kaylie




Happy Birthday to my now 9 year old Jon and now 5 year old Kaylie! I know everyone says this but 'they grow up so fast'! It really is true, I can't believe how fast they have gotten big. Yesterday we had a party for them with some of their best friends. I think they had a good time. Ryan was a continual source of entertainment for all. He climbed on all the kids and at one point took off his diaper when I wasn't looking and streaked through the girls room. Oh boy, sorry to those parents who do not want their children exposed to nudity at a young age! Such is life at our house though. Happy Birthday guys and no matter how big you get you will always be my babies!!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Floortime

Last week at occupational therapy our therapist, Jade, started a new intervention program called Floortime with Ryan. I had picked up a book about it recently and so I knew a bit about it. In Jade's opinion Ryan will do better on this program than he would doing ABA. I had thought it made sense when I read the book and so I was thrilled to hear that Ryan could have a chance at it. She's going to train me to do it so I can work with him at home and I may show the rest of the family as well. He needs eight 20 min. sessions a day. I will do most of them but the kids and Rory can do them as well.
The basic idea is to join him in his play, in what he's interested in, and connect with him then gradually challenge him to come into our world more when he realizes he wants to learn because he wants that shared connection. We learn better when we are emotionally connected to what we are learning and its the same for kids like Ryan. I am hopeful that this intervention works well for him even though I am struggling for time to clean, cook, take care of the other kids, etc. It really is a lot of fun, I still like to play so it works well for me! Its the getting up at 4 in the morning so I have enough time to clean the house that is tough! The other kids can be involved in the play too so it works for everyone.
Last but not least these are some pics from Memorial day weekend at my Mom and Dads and some from our house. Grandpa was working on some bikes with Jessi and Jon.






Sunday, June 1, 2008

Milestones




My little 5 month old Bella has dicovered her feet! How cute to watch her contentedly playing with her little toes. She can now add that to her list of milestones including laughing hysterically when something strikes her funny, rolling over from tummy to back (she wants nothing to do with going the other way), splashing in the bath,skooting around on her back by pushing with her legs (she can get quite far doing this!) and blowing raspberries. She is such a sweet bright baby, always looking to communicate with everyone. I can't believe she's already 5 going on 6 months old already. My little petite thing, she's still in 3 mo. clothing most of the time. I love you Bella Boo!